Valved piston for deep-well lift pumps



Jan. 22, 1952 Filed April 4, 1949 Fig.

L. C. MARDIS VALVED PISTON FOR DEEP-WELL. LIFT PUMPS 2 SHEETS-SHEET yl In ventor Leonard C. Mardis WW1/wey @M5165 Jan. 22, 1952 C, MARDlS 2,583,111

VALVED PISTON FOR DEEP-WELL LIFT PUMPS Filed April 4, 1949 2 SHEETS-SHEET 2 I r1 ventor Leonar 6. Mam/'s Patented Jan. 22, 1952"? OFFICE.

Qassam VALVED PIs'roN FOR DEEP-WELL LIFT `PUMPS Leonard C. Mardis, San Angelo, Tex.

Application April 4, 1949, Serial No. 85,306

'well tubing byV means including a sucker rod connected at its lower end to the upper end of the piston.

More particularly,` the present invention relates to a novel valved piston or traveling valve forpumps of the above kind, and the primary object `of the present invention is to provide such a 'piston which is highly efficient in use, and which includes means for effectively keeping the same clear of packing cup fragments and other fragmentary foreign material large enough to materially interfere with eiiicient action of th valve thereof.

The exact nature of the present invention will become apparent from the followingr description, when considered in connection with the accompanying drawings, in which:

Figure 1 is a view showing my improved piston Within a well tubing, a fragment of the tubing being shown in vertical section, and the piston being in elevation.

Figure 2 is an enlarged view thereof partly broken away and in section.

Figure 3 is a vertical section taken on the line 3-3 of Figure 2.

Figure 4 is a top plan view of the piston; and

Figure 5 is an enlarged horizontal section* taken on the line 5-5 of Figure 2.

Referring in detail to the drawings, the numeral 5 designates the well tubing and ,6 designates the present piston reclprocable in said tubing.

The piston 5 includes a tubular member] having externally threaded upper and lower= ends 8 and 9, and provided near its' upper end with an enlarged portion I whose reduced lowerrpar't II forms a seat for the upper one of a plurality of packing cups I2 which are disposed on the outside of the member 1, with interposed spacers or followers I3, the cups and spacers being held in compacted relation on member 1 by a nut I 4 screwed onto the upper part of the lower end S of said member 1, directly beneath and against the lower one of said cups. A removable valve seat member I for a ball valve I6 has its lower portion tted in the upper end of member 1 and its intermediate external flange I1 seated on the upper end edge thereof.

A cage I8 for a ball valve I6 has its lower end screwed on to the upper end 8 of member 1, and is provided near its lower end with an vinternal shoulder I9 to engage the flange I1 of seat mem- Z Claims. (Cl. 103-225) `ber I5 and clamp it against the upper end edge of said memberk 1. The cage I8 includes a cap portion 20 provided with a threaded stem 2| for connection with the lower end of a sucker rod 22, a lower annular portion 23, uniformly spaced bars 24 integrally connecting the cap and lower portions 2!!` and 23, and webs 25 between adjacent ones of the bars 24. The webs 25 are relatively thin and disposed to leave external recesses 28 in the cage between the bars 24, and they are provided in their lower portions with numerous restricted or small perforations 21 that freely permit escape of oil from the cap but eifectively prevent entrance of packing cup fragments and other fragmentary foreign material therein that would interfere with proper action or seating of valve I6. The lowermost perforations 21 are located directly at the top of seat I 5 to permit escape of ne sand or small foreign material that might enter the piston and accumulate in the cage so as to interfere with proper seating of valve I6 or cause damaging action on the latter and seat I5` A screen 28 is attached to the lower end of member 1 to prevent entrance of relatively large packing cup fragments or other material into the piston which might interfere with proper action of valve I6. This screen consists of a tube 29 having its lower end closed and provided wih numerous restricted or small perforations 30 in its upper portion only, said tube having an integral nut 3| on its upper end which is screwed onto the lower part of the lower end 9 of member 1 and jambed against the nut I4 to lock the latter against loosening or unscrewing. By having the perforations only in the upper portion of the tube 29, many foreign particles which do not rise above the lower portion of said tube will be excluded from the interior of the piston.

When the pump is in operation, the piston is reciprocated up and down in the barrel or tubing, the oil entering the piston on its down strokes through perforations 30, passing upwardly into the cage I8 by unseating the valve I6, and flowing from the cage I8 through perforations 21 into the barrel or tubing above the piston. On the' upstroke of the piston, valve I6 will seat to prevent entrance of oil into cage I8 through the perforations 21, thereby causing the oil above the piston to be lifted and discharged from the well at the surface.

From the foregoing description, it is believed that the construction, operation and advantages of the present invention will be readily understood and appreciated by those skilled in the art. The piston is especially valuable for use in connection with wells which are not continuously pumped and are known as stripper wells in which the output of the well is limited and large particles are often encountered in the oil.

Having described the invention, what is claimed as new is:

1. In a deep-Well lift pump, a valved piston comprising a tubular member having open and externally threaded upper and lower ends, and provided near its upper end with an enlarged portion having a reduced lower part forming a `seat for a packing cup, a plurality of packing cups disposed on the outside of said tubular member, the upper one of said cups being engaged with said seat, a plurality of spacers disposed on Said tubular member and spacing said cups, a nut screwed on to the upper part of the lower end oi said tubular member against the lower one of said i cups and holding the cups and spacers thereon incompacted relation, a second nut screwed onto' the lower part of the lower endn of said tubular member and jambed against the iirst named nut,

a cage having its lower end screwed onto the upper vend of said tubular member and provided near its lower end with an internal shoulder, a ball valve in said cage, and a seat member for said ball valve having its lower portion tted in the upper end of said tubular member and .pro-

vided with an external flange clamped between bination with a screen on the lower end of said tubular member including a tube integrally connected at its upper end with the second nut and provided with perforations in its upper portion.

LEONARD C. MARDIS.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the le of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Date 

